Oklahoma Senate confirms Gov. Kevin Stitt's four new state Board of Education nominees
The Senate confirmed Stitt's nominations of Michael Tinney, Chris Van Denhende, Ryan Deatherage and Becky Carson to the board without debate on Tuesday, May 27. The board governs the Oklahoma State Department of Education and sets policies for K-12 public schools.
While Carson was confirmed to the board by a 47-0 vote, the other three nominees all received some pushback from the far-right wing of the Senate's Republican caucus. Tinney, from Norman, was confirmed by a 36-11 vote. Van Denhende, from Tulsa, advanced on a 32-15 vote, and Deatherage, from Kingfisher, by a 33-15 vote.
The education board is chaired by Republican state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, but the governor has the power to appoint its six other members. Stitt shook up the board's membership in February, saying it was due to 'ongoing controversy' at the Oklahoma State Department of Education and disappointing standardized test scores.
The move also came as Stitt and Walters were increasingly at odds over a wide range of policies, including Walters' proposal to require schools to not just ask for the immigration status of students, but also of their parents.
Stitt named Tinney, Deatherage and Van Denhende to the board on Feb. 11 to replace three sitting members. He named a fourth new member, Carson, from Edmond, to fill an open seat on April 28.
Walters, who sets the board's agenda, had received no pushback from the board on multiple controversial decisions during his first two years in office, such as issuing a statewide Bible-teaching mandate.
That's changed since Stitt appointed Tinney, Deatherage and Van Denhende to the board. During three meetings, the three men have challenged Walters on multiple occasions.
Tinney's nomination drew additional interest when the senator from his home district, Sen. Lisa Standridge, R-Norman, declined to carry his nomination, citing her friendship with the board member Tinney replaced, Kendra Wesson. In similar situations, the Senate president pro tempore can carry a nomination, which that title holder, Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, initially declined to do before reversing course before Tinney's confirmation hearing in the Senate Education Committee.
Standridge was among the group of senators voting against Tinney's nomination.
Van Denhende's confirmation hearing included fiery statements from Paxton, Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, and Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, the committee's chair, who all decried an email campaign aimed at derailing the nomination.
The emails sent to Republican members of the committee compared Van Denhende to the former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, and included personal attacks against Van Denhende and his family. Senators also criticized an anonymous conservative blog post opposing the nomination.
Other nominations approved without opposition by the Senate included:
• Dennis Casey of Morrison to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Casey, a former lawmaker, district superintendent and championship-winning football coach, has spent the past five years on the board that governs Oklahoma's 25 public colleges and universities and currently serves as its chair. He'll now serve a full nine-year term.
• Tracy Poole of Tulsa to the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, which governs Oklahoma State University along with Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami and Connors State College in Warner. Poole, a venture capitalist, will serve an eight-year term. Poole is the founder and managing partner of FortySix Venture Capital in Tulsa.
• G. Rainey Williams of Oklahoma City to the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents. Williams will serve a seven-year term. He is president of Oklahoma City-based Marco Capital Group, an investment partnership, and serves as chair of the University Hospitals Authority and Trust and the chair of OU Health. The OU board oversees OU campuses in Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa as well as Rogers State University in Claremore and Cameron University in Lawton.
• Connie Reilly of Okemah to the Regional University System of Oklahoma board. The vote extended Reilly's tenure on the board, which governs six universities: the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford and East Central University in Ada.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Senate confirms four nominees to state Board of Education
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